I was at a point in my life where I felt it was time to push, to move, to move forward. I felt that the only thing to do was to join my strengths and my passions, to merge them into something big and make a dream come true. I am Daniele Dell’Osa and I am a photo traveler. I am an adventurer who travels the world with a camera to capture the natural and cultural wonders of the country. I love to travel without too many plans and to let things happen by themselves. I have always thought I have the gift of a free traveler. To leave without too many plans and to follow the flow of events penetrating the soul of the places that host me. As many of you know, adelante in Spanish means forward. I was looking for a term in Spanish, like the language spoken in South America, the theater of the adventure that awaited me, and I was looking for a term that began with “A”, like Austria and Australia, which are the two countries where the most profound personal life changes took place, and I felt that another was happening. And so A like Argentina. Austria was the country where I had my first foreign work experience in 2009, and Australia was my home for almost 5 years, from 2010 to 2015. This A that repeats itself, perhaps a sign of destiny. I boldly felt that Argentina would be the first country that would give new life to my photographic travels and adventures. I felt that from there would be born what for me truly represents the photographic journey, as a true traveler. My camera, Ultravid 8×32 binoculars, I don’t need anything else. I’m ready!
Daniele Dell’Osa with his inseparable Leica Ultravid 8×32.
It all started with a one-way ticket Rome – Buenos Aires, dated September 10, 2023. I don’t remember much about the flight itself, maybe I was dreaming the whole time. The airport in Buenos Aires was very disorganized and they didn’t even give me a stamp upon arrival (how annoying, stamps are stamps!). Taxi, and I arrived downtown in a hostel without too many pretensions. Perfect for the two nights before going down to Patagonia. A few tours of the capital, a visit to the Boca Junior stadium, the bombonera. Photocopy of the passport, sim card and preparation of the photographic equipment.
THE BEGIN OF THE JOURNEY. RIONEGRO. 13TH SEPTEMBER , INTERNAL FLIGHT FROM BUENOS AIRES TO RIO NEGRO.
WHY RIO NEGRO?
As a perfect Italian family, mine also has relatives scattered around the world. In the north of Patagonia, in the province of Rio Negro (in Argentina the provinces correspond to our Italian regions), lives a first cousin of my mother. My grandfather had a sister who moved to Argentina in the 50s. I had the opportunity to meet her and her daughters (my mother’s cousins in fact) and then I was hosted by one of them, Laura. Laura has a neighbor, Pablo, who showed me the immense steppes of Patagonia with his pick-up. After only an hour of exploring the endless roads of the steppe, I had observed and photographed several Rheas (a photo was published by National Geographic Italy), a Patagonian fox, an armadillo and several species of endemic birds, such as the Loica.
As a first day not bad but wait for the second day. I was about to live the wild experience of my life. Wake up at dawn, check the tide levels, binoculars around my neck and off towards the sea where the largest colony of parrots in the world lives, the burrowing parakeet – “loro barranquero”. Imagine 70km of coastal walls full of these holes dug into the rock that house millions of these parrots. I couldn’t stop observing them, with my binoculars I could see all their details, the bright colours, the shapes of their feathers, their beaks and their deep eyes. An incredible emotion.
La colonia di pappagalli più grande al mondo.
Oh, important. At that time the waters of Patagonia were infected by a strange virus that in Argentina they called “Gripe Avian” and it was killing many lions and elephant seals (as you will see in the photos) and I found myself documenting the colony of parrots by photographing among the carcasses of dead animals under my feet. It was a bad situation, for sure, but I felt like a true adventurous reporter. We left the colony behind and Pablo accompanied me to another magical place, a cove that when the tide rises, fills with birdlife and it was there that we met a giant group of flamingos that I took several beautiful photographs of, including one in flight that I particularly care about.
Rio Negro, laguna di fenicotteri rosa.
The tide was still high, and we still had two hours to wait for the great adventure: that of reaching a colony of sea lions that can only be reached by driving the quad up the beach. We waited for the tide to go down, and then Pablo drove the ATV along the beach for about 15 kilometers, until, at one point, they appeared in front of us: the sea lions. There were thousands of them. I photographed them from every angle, and they weren’t at all intimidated by my presence, despite not being used to people, unlike the ones around the docks. These ones, in fact, had probably—no, definitely—never encountered a human before. I was over the moon. There were huge dominant males fighting among themselves, other males courting females, and groups of females all gathered together, basking in the sun.
It was incredible.
After relaxing and observing them with my Leica Ultravid 8×32 binoculars, it goes without saying that I snapped over 1,500 pictures, with adrenaline soaring through me like never before.
I was still jet lagged and super tired from the intense day, but I had too much euphoria and energy not to be able to start working on the images on the computer. I had so many and I didn’t know where to start and I still couldn’t believe my eyes. And anyway, it was all thanks to Pablo. The last day in Rio Negro was a relaxing day driving the pick-up truck through the immense steppes of Patagonia, observing the rheas with binoculars directly from the window and every now and then, if the situation was favorable and the subjects were not too far away, I took some photos. Only three days had passed, I had the feeling of having been traveling for a lifetime.
Thanks Rio Negro!
Photo’s by Daniele Dell’Osa